SHENZHEN'S consumer price index (CPI) climbed 6.6 percent in January compared with the same period last year, a new high for the past 13 months, according to the Shenzhen bureau of statistics Tuesday.

Food prices had the highest growth rate of 13.5 percent.

The CPI of the months before and after the Spring Festival holiday is usually relatively higher than that of other months, the bureau said.

The unexpected snowstorms that hit southern China in late January and early February had contributed to the unexpectedly high figure, although the municipal government had implemented measures to curb inflation.(Li Jing)